Mumbai Hostage Crisis: Police Rescue over 20 Children Held Hostage in Powai Studio, Accused Detained

Mumbai: On Thursday, a tense scene unfolded in Mumbai’s Powai area, where police rescued at least 20 children who had been held hostage inside a studio. The accused has been identified as Rohit Arya. Mumbai Police confirmed that the accused has been detained and the children were safely evacuated.

In a video shared by X user Harsh Trivedi, the accused said, “I am Rohit Arya. Instead of dying by suicide, I have made a plan and am holding some children hostage here,” he said, listing what he described as “simple demands, moral demands, ethical demands, and a few questions.” He warned that “the slightest wrong move from you will trigger me” and threatened to set the place on fire, adding that he did not seek money and was “not a terrorist.”

“I want simple conversations, and that’s why I’ve taken these children hostage. I’ve held them hostage as part of a plan. If I live, I’ll do it; if I die, someone else will, but it will definitely happen because the slightest wrong move from you will trigger me to set this whole place on fire and die in it,” Arya said in the video.

Once the video went viral on social media, police rushed to R A Studio near the L&T building in Powai within an hour on Thursday afternoon and sealed the premises. To ensure the children were unharmed, officials said they treated the matter as a crisis situation and continued talking to Arya.

What the Mumbai Kidnapper Claimed in the Video

• Instead of committing suicide, he planned the act.
• His act had nothing to do with political or financial demands.
• He wanted a conversation on “moral” and “ethical” issues.
• He mentioned that a wrong step could trigger him to harm himself.
• He said keeping the children alive was key to “bringing change.”